Best Actor

News Nuggets: Which five men are fighting for ‘Star Wars 7’ lead role?

Justin Kroll reports that five men are fighting it out to play the lead role in the next “Star Wars” film. The role is projected to be a Jedi apprentice, and the actors in the running are rumored to be: John Boyega (“Attack the Block”), Jesse Plemons (“Breaking Bad“), and Ed Speleers (“Downton Abbey“), plus theater actors Ray Fisher and Matthew James Thomas. The seventh installment will be directed by J.J. Abrams (“Lost,” “Star Trek”) and is scheduled for production in late summer or early fall. “Girls” Emmy nominee Adam Driver is already in line to play the movie’s villain. Variety.

Both versions of “The Tonight Show” hosted by Jay Leno and Jimmy Fallon will be on this year’s Emmy ballot. For the variety categories, NBC is submitting those two programs as well as “Saturday Night Live,” “Late Night with Seth Meyers,” and “Last Call with Carson Daly.” Fallon’s previous series, “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon,” will not be eligible since the network does not want his two shows competing with each other. Deadline.

Michael J. Fox breaks his silence about the struggles of his self-titled NBC comedy series. He says that he does not “feel angry” with the networks’ decision to stop airing the rookie show after just 15 episodes. Still fighting for the survival of the program, he adds that he does not “think this journey is finished. I think these episodes, if they’re put in a more advantageous spot on the schedule, can attract an audience and keep it.” Hollywood Reporter.

The 1990 hit movie “Pretty Woman” is making its way to Broadway with a musical version. Director Garry Marshall and screenplay writer J.F. Lawton are working on the book even though no composers have been hired yet. The original film starred Julia Roberts in an Oscar-nominated role as a prostitute hired to escort a ruthless lawyer (Richard Gere) to business events. Playbill.

Kyle Buchanan‘s new essay proclaims that “TV stars don’t need to make it in the movies anymore.” He states that in the past, stars like Robin Williams, George Clooney, Jennifer Aniston, and Steve Carell made the leap to films as the next natural step. More recent actors such as Bryan Cranston, Aaron Paul, and Jon Hamm can’t possibly find film scripts that are better than what they had on television, so why take the third lead slot or a low-level supporting role? Vulture.

Almost every other show is lucky to receive a one-year renewal. With its hightest ratings ever during the seventh season, CBS has renewed comedy series “The Big Bang Theory” for three more years. Warner Bros. will now need to negotiate contract extensions for stars Kaley Cuoco, Johnny Galecki, and Jim Parsons. TV Guide.

Oscar nominee Richard Linklater is slated to receive the Founder’s Directing Award at the San Francisco Film Festival in May. His latest film “Boyhood,” the story of a young man shot over a 12-year period, will screen at the festival. Linklater was nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay this year for “Before Midnight.” Other recipients of this honor have included Robert Altman, Francis Ford Coppola, Clint Eastwood, Akira Kurosawa, Spike Lee, and Oliver Stone. The Wrap.